Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

by Master Llama, guest reviewer

Title: Graceling
Author: Kristin Cashore
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 480 pages
Grade Reading Level: Ages 14+

Summary: Katsa has an extraordinary talent. A scary talent. She can kill people with skill and ease. This is her Grace. Her uncle the king uses her gift to his advantage, making her do all his dirty work. Seven kingdoms hang in the balance and the key to holding them together or destroying them all rests with her.

Why I Read This Book:

I read it before and wanted to reread it. I never reread books, so this shows how much I like it!

Likes:

Katsa is one of my favorite heroines. I really like her a lot because she seemed like a real person. She has problems despite being so super special.
I like the romance aspect too. Po is a good foil to Katsa.
I like the idea of graces. I think if I had a grace it would be flying.
Bitterblue is King Lex’s daughter who ran away. I really like her because she’s very determined and managed to escape his web of influence despite all the odds stacked against her.

Dislikes:

The plot got overly complicated in places. When it did it I felt it would have been better served to be simpler and more concise.
I didn’t like Giddion. He was a minor character, but he claimed to love Katsa and want to marry her. In the end he was just stupid and moped around.

Buy: Graceling

Rating: 4 Treasure Chests